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Topic: S/O Beggars, Moochers and Scammers (Read 2016535 times)

I want to add that Yes, some charities DO give out new I-phones and fancy smart phones and Yes, homeless/low income people CAN use them on the free cell phone plans. The plans do not include a data plan but you can get top off cards that you can add to your plan that will unlock the data plans or you can simply use them for texting and phone calls which ARE included in the free plan. One of the charities that we have a referral agreement with was given a bunch of smart phones by the manufacturers for their clients. They were able to give nearly every one of their tenants who live here a fancy smart phone (they got to choose between a few models) last summer.

This is like the complaint that "99% of welfare recipients have refrigerators!" Er... in most states, it's illegal for parents to NOT have a way to keep and preserve food for their families long-term. It's hardly an indicator of frivolity.

This one always hugely bugs me. (a) if the family were to sell their fridge, it would be an incredibly short-sighted decision, as it would severely limit the kinds of foods they could buy and probably cost them more in the long run, and (b) I've lived in low-income housing and it came with a refrigerator. I couldn't sell it; it wasn't mine. But it was there for my use, and that's probably how a lot of the people in this statistic "have refrigerators" too.

Not all of them. Plus if the phone is a gift the plan may be a part of it, I pay my brothers phone bill as he couldn't afford it on his own and it's worth it to be able to contact him.

I know of at least one case where a homeless and drug-addicted family member's parents paid for his "fancy and expensive" (not really) phone and data plan, so he could be in touch with his sponsors, work, and so that they could check in with him regularly and find out if he was alive or dead on any given day.

Yes !

Because family member's worry about them and some of us are willing to pay. You can't let them live with your family, they are dangerous, will steal from you or worse yet, have their associates come to see them. And yet, they are still family that you love and want to try and help, keep save, be able to find, etc.

This is like the complaint that "99% of welfare recipients have refrigerators!"

I looked at that complaint and went - "Well, duh!" I expect that Welfare recipients rent and every rental place I have ever lived in came with a refrigerator and stove. I feel bad for the 1% of welfare recipients that can't find a rental with appliances, those must be some short-sighted landlords..

This is like the complaint that "99% of welfare recipients have refrigerators!"

I looked at that complaint and went - "Well, duh!" I expect that Welfare recipients rent and every rental place I have ever lived in came with a refrigerator and stove. I feel bad for the 1% of welfare recipients that can't find a rental with appliances, those must be some short-sighted landlords..

In most cases I've seen, the "complainers" are not trying to say that welfare recipients are scammers, but are pointing out that what we consider poverty would be pretty darn comfortable in some countries.

I just want to pod the people who explain various reasons why someone who is poor would have a smart phone. My spouse's workplace replaces their smartphones every two years and they donate the old ones to various charities or tell my spouse and his coworkers to keep them if they want. He has kept one i-phone and donated the other i-phones and android phones to the local shelter.

This is like the complaint that "99% of welfare recipients have refrigerators!" Er... in most states, it's illegal for parents to NOT have a way to keep and preserve food for their families long-term. It's hardly an indicator of frivolity.

This one always hugely bugs me. (a) if the family were to sell their fridge, it would be an incredibly short-sighted decision, as it would severely limit the kinds of foods they could buy and probably cost them more in the long run, and (b) I've lived in low-income housing and it came with a refrigerator. I couldn't sell it; it wasn't mine. But it was there for my use, and that's probably how a lot of the people in this statistic "have refrigerators" too.

I was gonna say...I've always had access to a refrigerator, but that's because it came with the apartment. So, I don't OWN it, but it's there.

EDIT: that being said, I'd hate for this thread to get locked so can we move away from discussion of hot-button topics of welfare/assistance scammers?

You know, I may be considered a curmudgeon by some. But that's ridiculous. Having a refrigerator, so you can store leftovers and food bought in bulk is more cost-effective than going without one. Even if it weren't - social assistance should provide decent living conditions, if not luxurious ones. Going without a fridge is not acceptable, particularly, as some have pointed out, for people with children.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

Yeah, and sadly, it's not even all just people comparing first world poverty to third world poverty--there was an article a few years back that suggested the poor sell their fridges for cash. That's the argument that makes no sense at all to me.

This is like the complaint that "99% of welfare recipients have refrigerators!"

I looked at that complaint and went - "Well, duh!" I expect that Welfare recipients rent and every rental place I have ever lived in came with a refrigerator and stove. I feel bad for the 1% of welfare recipients that can't find a rental with appliances, those must be some short-sighted landlords..

In most cases I've seen, the "complainers" are not trying to say that welfare recipients are scammers, but are pointing out that what we consider poverty would be pretty darn comfortable in some countries.

Yes, I've only ever heard this comparison in regards to first world vs. third world lifestyles, or even in comparison to "how much better we have if than our ancestors, even the rich ones." I've never heard of someone begrudging a welfare recipient a refrigerator before this thread.

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“A real desire to believe all the good you can of others and to make others as comfortable as you can will solve most of the problems.” CS Lewis

This is like the complaint that "99% of welfare recipients have refrigerators!"

I looked at that complaint and went - "Well, duh!" I expect that Welfare recipients rent and every rental place I have ever lived in came with a refrigerator and stove. I feel bad for the 1% of welfare recipients that can't find a rental with appliances, those must be some short-sighted landlords..

In most cases I've seen, the "complainers" are not trying to say that welfare recipients are scammers, but are pointing out that what we consider poverty would be pretty darn comfortable in some countries.

Yes, I've only ever heard this comparison in regards to first world vs. third world lifestyles, or even in comparison to "how much better we have if than our ancestors, even the rich ones." I've never heard of someone begrudging a welfare recipient a refrigerator before this thread.

You haven't met my relatives. They love claiming that everyone on food stamps is buying lobster because they saw a news story that said so. Three of my friends work with welfare recipients in two different non-profits and have for decades, and no matter what lengthy experience and evidence I have for them that, no, that's not what welfare recipients, in general, do, THEY SAW IT ON THE NEWS. Ugh, "those people!"

More in line with the thread's title, I got yelled at by a panhandler today. I usually rely on a "do not engage" practice, after having lived in several major cities. This guy asked me for change, but, as I was rushing for a bus along with my "do not engage" policy, I didn't respond. He proceeded to yell after me about what a snob I was with my head up my own butt. Sorry, fella, but I'm not obligated to sacrifice my comfort level, or miss a bus, because you asked me for change. You don't know how much volunteer work I do and how much I give to charity, so, to use an eHell-approved phrase, "What an interesting assumption."

Great news! The FBI and the UN are both helping me get my 45million $$$ out of Nigeria! All I have to do is pay them for the price of the courier(s?) to bring me my debit card!

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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Common sense is not a gift, but a curse. Because thenyou have to deal with all the people who don't have it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~